safe teardrops A component tears fight against bacterial infections of the eyes
NEW ORLEANS -. researchers have identified a compound in tears that appears to protect the cornea from infection by a microbe known. The results, presented here on May 26 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, could help prevent eye infections in contact lens wearers or lead to new treatments.
A notorious microbe called Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the leading cause of eye infections in people wearing contacts; in severe cases, infection can lead to permanent vision loss. Previously, Suzanne Fleiszig, a microbiologist at the University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry, had discovered that the human tear fluid can prevent the microbe from cells of cornea damage or invasion. For this study, it has raised more volunteers tears ( "onions work well enough," she said) to find out which component of the chemical soup that makes tears is responsible.
Among the potential candidates Fleiszig and his colleagues tested was a group of molecules known as collectins name, some of which play a role in protecting the lungs against infection. Indeed, they found that one of these, called surfactant protein D (SP-D) is abundant in human tears. They also found that the protein layers mouse corneas. In Petri tests, both the human version and SP-D mice could reduce P. aeruginosa "the ability to infect cells of the cornea; but when SP-D was removed from the human tear fluid, tears are no longer offered any protection. Fleiszig now considering whether people who wear contact lenses have less SP-D on their corneas or lenses diminish somehow the activity of the protein.
"It's great," Harvard microbiologist Gerald Pier said after studying Poster Fleiszig the meeting. The risk of corneal infections is low for individual lens wearers, says Pier - but because many people wear contacts, it is still a big problem. "Discover why people are resistant when they are not wearing contact lenses is very important," he said. And SP-D, or something like it, could be used to prevent or treat infections of the cornea, he said.
Related Sites
The homepage of Fleiszig
home [dePier
more on Pseudomonas aeruginosa
How to prevent eye infections
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